Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996): UK

Reviewed by Anna Bewe. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Trainspotting is based on a cult novel by Irvine Welsh and is a remarkable film about drug addicted guys in urban Edinburgh, Scotland. The accents are thick and the film has a surreal style. The director Danny Boyle has also made films as The Beach, The Sunshine and also the new award winner film Slumdog Millionaire.

Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) is a heroin addicted guy who lives in the urban Edinburgh. His life remains of his friends, soccer and heroin. His friends consist of Sick Boy (Miller) and Spud (Ewan Bremner) who glorify heroin which they are addicted to, there is also Mark’s friend Tommy (Kevin McKidd) that doesn’t do drugs, but after his girlfriend dumps him, he can’t resist trying it. Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is psychotic and doesn’t only get high from drugs, but also from kicking and fighting. The film follows Mark who gets clean – just to get back to heroin, and tries to get clean again. Mark and his friends are stealing to get cash for drugs, but after a while Mark gets tired of his life and he moves to London to try to get back on track – away from his drug addicted friends. Somehow his friends find him in London and Marks life turns upside down again.

The film owns both up to the euphoria of drugs, as well as their risks. It shows the destructive power of drugs and Boyle also show how good drugs can make the users feel. This film gave us an insight to their mindset – to see and feel the rush and the harsh consequences of the drug use. The film also disguises the emptiness of their lives. Boyle’s direction is incredible – he use hyper editing techniques which define the mood he wants to get across the screen – which he succeed with. Everything in the film happens really quickly, but fortunate there are a narrator (Renton) which helps us to understand everything we need to know about the characters and the proceeding in the film. This film is a satire, but it still gets through the message – that drugs are bad and it will ruin your life.